Government, Healthcare and Social Assistance drive job growth in December 2023

Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 216,000 in December, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7 percent. Employment continued to trend up in government, healthcare, social assistance, and construction, while transportation and warehousing lost jobs. Payroll employment rose by 2.7 million in 2023 (an average monthly gain of 225,000), less than the increase of 4.8 million in 2022 (an average monthly gain of 399,000).

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more), at 1.2 million, was little changed in December and over the year. The long-term unemployed accounted for 19.7 percent of all unemployed persons in December. The labor force participation rate, at 62.5 percent, and the employment-population ratio, at 60.1 percent, both decreased by 0.3 percentage point in December. These measures showed little or no change over the year.